The Currently Reading Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Season 8, Episode 14: Reading Merit Badges + Books We Recently Set Aside Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

Bookish Moments: audiobook samples and author shoutouts
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: books we've recently set aside and why
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:26 - Ad For Ourselves

4:27 - Currently Reading Patreon

4:40 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

6:09 - The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

9:50 - Our Current Reads

10:22 - Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins (Meredith)

13:50 - Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

13:54 - 17 Years Later by J.P. Pomare

14:36 - Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy (Kaytee)

14:45 - Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

14:51 - Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

18:04 - What the Deep Water Knows by Miranda Cowley Heller (Meredith)

18:54 - The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

23:07 - Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (Kaytee)

23:26 - Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

26:15 - Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle

26:54 - The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury (Meredith, amazon link)

30:37 - The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

31:52 - Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Kaytee)

32:13 - Waterstones

32:14 - Blackwell's

34:16 - The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

38:20 - Books We Recently DNF'd

40:47 - Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (Meredith NRN)

43:30 - All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (Kaytee DNF)

45:16 - Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Meredith DNF with prejudice)

47:47 - Babel by R.F. Kuang

48:11 - Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

49:50 - We Are the Light by Matthew Quick (Kaytee DNF with prejudice)

51:58 - The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

52:30 - The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (Meredith - not sure!)

53:42 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

53:49 - A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

55:01 - Fire by John Boyne (Kaytee DNF)

55:14 - Water by John Boyne

55:15 - Earth by John Boyne

55:16 - Air by John Boyne

55:18 - The Elements by John Boyne (all 4 novellas combined)

55:27 - Blackwell's

56:45 - The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

57:46 - Sarah's Bookshelves Live - The Elements by John Boyne discussion (only for patreon subscribers)

58:34 - Meet Us At The Fountain

59:14 - I wish for author Cameos. (Meredith)

59:17 - Cameo

1:01:17 - I wish for a reading merit badge. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. November's's IPL is brought to us from Content Bookstore in Northfield, Minnesota.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 13: Reading Too Much + Ranking Our #1 Reads In Years Past Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

Bookish Moments: 3D bookish printing and reading too many books at once
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: taking our top reads from each year 2019-2024 and ranking them
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:58 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

3:09 - Book bone

4:33 - 3D Printer

7:49 - Our Current Reads

7:55 - How to Survive A Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans (Kaytee)

12:17 - Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh (Meredith)

13:41 - Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

15:34 - Fabled Bookshop

17:05 - A Rebellion of Care by David Gate (Kaytee)

17:24 - @davidgatepoet on Instagram

21:15 - Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (Meredith)

24:51 - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

24:53 - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

25:46 - The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (Kaytee)

25:56 - The Novel Neighbor

27:25 - The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams

27:27 - The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

28:49 - The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

29:39 - The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (Meredith)

34:39 - The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain

35:16 - Ranking Our Favorites From Years Past

Meredith's Top Books 2019-2024

36:36 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (5)

36:41 - Greenwood by Michael Christie (6)

36:46 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2)

36:53 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow (3)

36:58 - Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati (4)

37:05 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (1)

Kaytee's Top Books 2019-2024

37:50 - The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall (3)

37:54 - Pride by Ibi Zoboi (4)

38:00 - All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle (1)

38:13 - Babel by RF Kuang (2)

38:16 - Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (6)

38:18 - All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (5)

42:19 - The Count of Monte Cristo be Alexandre Dumas

50:57 - Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

51:57 - Meet Us At The Fountain

52:04 - I wish that I would better prepare for downtime or planned reading. (Kaytee)

54:32 - I wish you would make a top 10 reads every year from now on. (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. October's IPL takes us back to one of our anchor stores, The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis, Missouri.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 12: Reading Mishaps + Travels and Book Buying Oct 20, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

Bookish Moments: accidental reads and jumbled audiobooks
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: the way we buy books while traveling
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

. 1:29 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

2:56 - Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

2:58 - Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

4:16 - City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

7:44 - Our Current Reads

7:54 - A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett (Kaytee)

8:04 - The Novel Neighbor

10:47 - Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel by Elizabeth Everett

11:29 - The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline (Meredith)

13:33 - What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline

17:07 - Raceless by Georgina Lawton (Kaytee)

19:58 - The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron (Meredith)

29:03 - The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill (Kaytee)

31:56 - Royal Gambit by Daniel O'Malley (Meredith)

34:07 - The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

34:11 - Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley

34:41 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

37:33 - Rivers of London (Midnight Riot) by Ben Aaronovitch

38:37 - Travel and Book Buying

41:33 - Waterstones

49:26 - The Foldie

51:33 - North Woods by Daniel Mason (UK version)

51:39 - The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (UK version)

53:33 - Bookshop

55:56 - Topping & Company

57:50 - Fabled Bookshop

59:23 - Meet Us At The Fountain

59:27 - I wish for a real life excuse note due to reading weather. (Kaytee)

1:00:31 - I wish you would prioritize visiting that local bookstore you've been meaning to visit. (Meredith)

1:01:11 - The Painted Porch Bookshop

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. October's IPL takes us back to one of our anchor stores, The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis, Missouri.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 11: Book Bundles + Books That Zigged When You Thought They'd Zag Oct 13, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Roxanna are discussing:

Bookish Moments: back to buddy reading and book bundles
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: books that surprised you all the way through
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:46 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:55 - Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

2:19 - Babel by R.F. Kuang

2:41 - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

6:38 - Our Current Reads

9:54 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol.1 by Beth Brower (Roxanna)

9:04 - Libby

9:29 - 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

14:15 - The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery

14:41 - Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer (Kaytee)

17:19 - Lord of the Flies by William Golding

19:37 - Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Roxanna)

25:00 - Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend

27:41 - Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong (Kaytee)

31:09 - The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman (Roxanna)

33:05 - Type Books Canada

34:45 - Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

33:47 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers

36:19 - Audre & Bash are Just Friends by Tia Williams (Kaytee)

36:30 - Libro.fm

36:38 - Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

39:24 - The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

40:52 - Books that Zigged When You Thought They'd Zag

41:45 - The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman

45:03 - Piranesi by Susanna Clark

45:19 - Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

46:02 - The Unseen World by Liz Moore

46:43 - Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross

46:47 - Fabled Bookshop

48:05 - Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

49:15 - I Keep My Worries In My Teeth by Anna Cox

49:23 - Commonplace Books

50:51 - Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

50:53 - Parnassus Books

50:55 - Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill

50:58 - The Novel Neighbor

51:00 - Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

51:03 - An Unlikely Story

51:07 - Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

51:33 - The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain

52:10 - Wicked Nix by Lena Coakley

53:38 - Meet Us At The Fountain

53:45 - I wish to press The Ghoul of Windydown Vale by Jake Burt. (Roxanna)

53:54 - The Ghoul of Windydown Vale by Jake Burt

56:06 - I wish Libby would bring back "Deliver Later". (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. October's IPL takes us back to one of our anchor stores, The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis, Missouri.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 10: Squeeze Your Tenders + When Reading Gets Dangerous Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

Bookish Moments: bookish wishes coming true and picture books we love
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: Kaytee gets silly about how reading can be dangerous
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:34 - Ad For Ourselves

4:33 - Currently Reading Patreon

5:02 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

5:50 - The Black Wolf by Louise Penny

7:08 - Novel Neighbor

8:09 - Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson

8:17 - Dog Eared Books

9:34 - Our Current Reads

9:54 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol.1 by Beth Brower (Meredith)

10:00 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2 by Beth Brower

16:03 - A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh (Kaytee)

16:11 - An Unlikely Story

20:09 - 44 Poems on Being with Each Other by Padraig O Tuama (Meredith)

20:18 - Poetry Unbound podcast

24:24 - In the Shelter by Padraig O Tuama

24:40 - A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

25:37 - The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (Kaytee)

26:27 - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

32:45 - Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand (Meredith)

34:18 - Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann

37:41 - Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

38:11 - 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered by Sadie Hartmann

38:40 - Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi (Kaytee)

42:16 - Deep Dive: When Reading Gets Dangerous

46:08 - A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

51:05 - Meet Us At The Fountain

51:07 - I wish that more books came in volumes. (Meredith)

51:18 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol.1 by Beth Brower

53:10 - I wish to press an Immense World by Ed Yong. (Kaytee)

53:11 - An Immense World by Ed Yong

53:15 - The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

54:15 - An Immense World by Ed Yong (young reader's edition)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. October's IPL takes us back to one of our anchor stores, The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis, Missouri.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 9: Car-cuteries + Narrative POVs Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

Bookish Moments: car picnics and even more bookshelves!
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: all about narrative POVs - do they matter? do we like one more than the other?
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:29 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

4:04 - Awake by Jen Hatmaker

4:44 - BookPeople

9:45 - Our Current Reads

9:53 - American Royals by Katharine McGee (Kaytee)

13:22 - Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

13:26 - Currently Reading Patreon to access Popcorn in the Pages

14:03 - Majesty by Katharine McGee

14:53 - A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (Meredith)

18:05 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

18:06 - The Spellshop by Sara Beth Durst

18:16 - A Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

19:24 - House of Frank by Kay Synclaire

19:41 - The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

20:08 - These Truths by Jill Lepore (Kaytee)

20:32 - libro.fm

22:04 - The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon

25:07 - The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis (Meredith)

26:03 - Fabled Bookshop

29:39 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Kaytee)

32:04 - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

34:15 - The Carpool Detectives by Chuck Hogan (Meredith)

40:05 - Deep Dive: Narrative POVs

45:38 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

45:43 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

45:59 - A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler

46:32 - Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

48:28 - Sarah's Bookshelves Live

49:55 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

52:39 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

52:42 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

52:47 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker

53:05 - We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin

53:09 - Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

53:30 - Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

53:32 - Everyone In My Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

53:52 - Meet Us At The Fountain

53:55 - I wish to press Starling House into everybody's hands. (Kaytee)

54:00 - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

54:08 - The Novel Neighbor

56:10 - The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

56:29 - I wish everyone would try a book flight. (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL is brought to us from Words Matter in Pitman, NJ.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 8: Wordy Card Games + All Things Pre-Order Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

Bookish Moments: movie adaptations and wordy card games
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: answering a listener question about all things pre-orders
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:16 - Our Current Reads

1:35 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

6:43 - You Can't Say Umm card game

7:34 - Quiddler game

9:06 - Our Current Reads

9:24 - The Killer Question by Janice Hallett (Meredith)

10:37 - The Appeal by Janice Hallett

10:38 - The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

10:42 - The Examiner by Janice Hallett

16:45 - The Crescent Monon Tea Room by Stacy Sivinski (Kaytee)

20:34 - The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Meredith)

22:23 - The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown

26:00 - Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad (Kaytee)

27:14 - When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

29:39 - Inheritance by Nora Roberts (Meredith)

33:52 - The Search by Nora Roberts

36:43 - Tilt by Emma Pattee (Kaytee)

40:58 - Deep Dive: All Things Pre-Orders

41:47 - @hollyslitmagic on Instagram

43:55 - Fabled Bookshop

47:07 - The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (pre-order, releases Oct 28, 2025)

47:12 - The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (UK edition, pre-order releases Oct 30, 2025)

48:32 - Bergman Brothers full box set is no longer available through Illumicrate

50:21 - Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

51:22 - Meet Us At The Fountain

52:10 - Sorta Awesome

52:21 - @metaphysicalmeg on Instagram

52:26 - Meg's offerings for readings

53:59 - My wish is that you know yourself as a reader but also your whole self. (Meredith)

55:00 - I wish to encourage the nostalgia reading experience. (Kaytee)

55:09 - The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

55:59 - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

56:54 - Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

58:33 - Origin by Dan Brown

58:34 - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

58:36 - Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL is brought to us from Words Matter in Pitman, NJ.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 7: Small-Town Escapes + Reading - Why So Serious? Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

Bookish Moments: a budding book collector + a favorite book wins the Hugo Award
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: reading — why so serious?
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:12 - Still Life by Louise Penny (20th Anniversary Edition) [releases September 30]

2:13 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week

2:25 - Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

3:34 - The Adventures of Amina al-Sarafi by Shannon Chakraborty

4:19 - The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper [releases September 16]

4:53 - The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean

5:04 - The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

6:19 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

7:54 - Our Current Reads

8:03 - Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca (Kaytee)

11:35 - Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca

13:30 - Rites of Extinction by Matt Serafini (Meredith)

18:39 - The Unveiling by Quan Berry [releases October 14]

19:17 - The Need by Helen Phillips

20:02 - Let Them Stare by Jonathan Van Ness and Julie Murphy (Kaytee)

22:19 - Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

23:59 - Jobs to Be Done by Stephen Wunker, Jessica Wattman, and David Farber (Meredith)

28:36 - Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller (Kaytee)

28:45 - The Change by Kirsten Miller

28:50 - Schuler Books in Michigan

31:45 - Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea (Meredith)

35:01 - Guess Again by Charlie Donlea

36:36 - Reading — Why So Serious?

43:40 - Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

51:03 - Meet Us At The Fountain

51:24 - I wish there was a show about readers, in the spirit of The Great British Bake Off. (Kaytee)

54:46 - An update on last week's wish: I wish my iPhone would make automated actions easier for handling my screenshots. (Meredith)

56:40 - Step-by-Step: Build a "Send Screenshot" Shortcut on iPhone PDF

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL comes to us from: Words Matter in Pitman, NJ.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 6: Octogenarians in the Spotlight + Diving into Reading Deeply Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

Bookish Moments: being told what to read by our past selves + insomnia reading on my kindle
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: how to read deeply
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

1:30 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week

2:01 - The September House by Carissa Orlando

5:26 - Our Current Reads

5:33 - The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi (Meredith) [releases September 30]

8:16 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

10:49 - Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun (Kaytee)

14:23 - The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

14:28 - Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

14:50 - We Spread by Iain Reid (Meredith)

16:39 - I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

16:42 - Foe by Iain Reid

20:41 - The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei (Kaytee)

23:07 - Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

23:18 - The Adventures of Amina al-Sarafi by Shannon Chakraborty

24:21 - Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Meredith)

28:47 - Stuart Little by E. B. White

29:58 - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

31:32 - This Is Happiness by Niall Williams (Kaytee)

36:24 - Time of the Child by Niall Williams

36:54 - Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar

37:11 - How and When to Read Deeply

37:45 - Currently Reading: A Journey to Three Pines series

40:33 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

43:31 - Babel by R. F. Kuang

50:33 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

55:31 - Still Life by Louise Penny

58:06 - Meet Us At The Fountain

58:12 - I wish my iPhone would make automated actions easier for handling my screenshots. (Meredith)

1:02:28 - I wish that we would all come up with our list of Slam Dunks. (Kaytee)

1:05:42 - Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin

1:06:47 - Chrissie on Instagram and at Sarah's Bookshelves

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL comes to us from: Words Matter in Pitman, NJ.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Season 8, Episode 5: The 4th C: Relaxing Your Chestal Region + Boss My TBR Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

Bookish Moments: overflowing bookshelves + a fun way to count your finished reads
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately
Deep Dive: we are bossing some more TBRs
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

2:29 - Ad For Ourselves

6:45 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week

9:55 - Meredith's Floor Lamp

10:46 - "The Number of Books I've Read This Year" desktop counter from Etsy

13:06 - Our Current Reads

13:32 - A Duke Never Tells by Suzanne Enoch (Kaytee)

16:18 - Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

17:16 - The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North (Meredith)

18:32 - The Whisper Man by Alex North

22:05 - Ordinary Time by Annie B. Jones (Kaytee)

24:48 - Annie B. Jones on Instagram

25:25 - The Dark One (Vicious Lost Boys, 2) by St. Crow (Meredith)

26:13 - Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

26:36 - The Never King (Vicious Lost Boys, 1) by Nikki St. Crow

30:07 - Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Kaytee)

34:19 - Withered Hill by David Barnett (Meredith)

37:28 - Slewfoot by Brom

38:28 - The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

38:34 - Boss My TBR

From Catherine Bridgewater

40:19 - Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie

40:21 - North Woods by Daniel Mason

40:24 - After the Crash by Michel Bussi

40:27 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

40:29 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher

40:42 - Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

40:43 - Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

From Lisa Stone

44:05 - Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall

44:08 - My Friends by Fredrik Backman

44:10 - Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

44:13 - Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaughy

44:17 - The Unseen World by Liz Moore

44:25 - Today Tonight Forever by Madeline Kay Sneed

44:37 - Happy Place by Emily Henry

49:36 - Meet Us At The Fountain

49:40 - I wish to become (or really, have already been) a correspondent. (Kaytee)

49:52 - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

51:56 - I wish that for every book it had a perfume-type scent to transport you back to that particular experience of reading it. (Meredith)

52:06 - Ffern | Organic Eau de Parfum

53:40 - The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister

56:35 - Chrissie on Instagram and at Sarah's Bookshelves

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL comes to us from: Words Matter in Pitman, NJ.
Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller
From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry
The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

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